You are here:

Biosecurity for the Grains and Oilseeds Industry

March 1, 2013, Ottawa: Grains and oilseeds growers have a new tool to help protect crops, following the release of a national biosecurity standard today.

“Managing on-farm risk is an important part of staying competitive in today's market,” said Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. “This standard offers grains and oilseeds producers a distinct advantage in the fight against pests and diseases on the farm.”

“There is a lot of useful information within this standard for producers,” said Richard Phillips Executive Director of the Grain Growers of Canada. “While some pieces of this may already be common practice, I think many producers will pick up some new tips as well to help prevent the spread of pests.”

The National Standard is a tool designed to help producers minimize and control the risk of pests and disease entering their farms, spreading within the farm or to neighbouring farms. It is applicable to farm-level operations of all types and sizes.

The standard is divided into four sections:

Entry of pests to the farm

Movement of pests within the farm

Exit of pests from the farm

Management process

The National Voluntary Farm-Level Biosecurity Standard for the Grains and Oilseeds Industry was developed over two years through a partnership between the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the Canada Grains Council along with other stakeholders including:

Grain Growers of Canada

Canadian Grains Commission

Canadian Canola Growers Association

provincial governments

Funding was provided by the Growing Forward policy initiative of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.